Safety Alert

Computer use can be monitored and is impossible to completely clear. If you are in danger, please use a safer computer, call your local hotline, and / or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE.

Defining Domestic Violence

Many people think that domestic violence is when a husband hits his wife. While this is often true, domestic violence means much more than physical harm.

Massachusetts Law

In the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the law states that domestic violence has occurred if any of these events:

• Attempts to cause physical harm
• Causes physical harm
• Places another in fear of physical harm, or
• Causes another to engage involuntarily in sexual relations by force, threat, or duress

Comes from any one of these sources:

• Dating partner
• Household member
• Married or formerly married partner
• Parent of a child in common
• Relative by blood or marriage

DVSN's Domestic Violence Definition

DVSN's definition of domestic violence includes the legal definition stated above and also includes other forms of abuse. At DVSN, domestic violence is defined as a pattern of coercive control that one individual intermittently exerts over another by means of:

• Economic abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Physical abuse
• Sexual abuse
• Spiritual abuse

Domestic Violence in Affluent Communities

View an article titled "Unusual Help Needed for Victims of Domestic Violence in Privileged Communities" by Kiersten Warning, the Director and creator of the Domestic Violence Victim Assistance Program.

DVSN's Mission Statement

"The Domestic Violence Services Newtork, Inc. (DVSN) is a unique community collaboration among central Middlesex police departments and non-profit agencies. We train volunteers to proactively advocate for victims of domestic violence and to offer immediate and follow-up crisis intervention services, including risk assessment, safety planning, and connection with supportive community resources."